Using a laptop for handwriting...

[smiley]

Hi all

 

Parent-teachers meeting today - usually a source of endless frustration and overwhelming urge to find chocolate and hide in a corner - but, he's doing really well! (first time i've heard that - so i'm chuffed to bits ).

 

One thing that was mentioned was using a laptop as he is struggling with handwriting - OT has been into school and someone or other has assessed him .

 

Teacher said it would be a good idea to get him to use the computer at home as much as possible.

 

First question - does anyone know of any 'fun' games which help to teach the positions of the keys, and to get them accustomed to the keyboard.

 

Anddddddddd

 

Second question - what type of laptop would be suitable for him to use at home????

 

[baddad]

1 - I'd try cnet for some freeware to begin with, and then maybe mavis beacon for kids?

Ben had the ten-finger breakout game on his old 98 machine, but not tried it on XP

 

linkyplinkytypingthing

 

2 - A CHEAP one!

 

L&P

 

BD

[MichelleW]

I would also suggest that if you have other younger children, it may be worth taking out the accidental cover insurance! I bought a "cheap" laptop fot J and after a couple of months, J being unusually thoughtful and sharing let his younger brother have a go - don't know how he did it but within seconds he'd manage to break it - luckily I had taken out insurance ( though in hindsight it was probably covered by contents insurance!)

[Guest Lya of the Nox]

maybe something like this

http://www.rm.com/Primary/Products/Product.asp?cref=PD51338

can u maybe see if anyone has an old puter that he can do basic stuff on and dont matter for a bit if he kills it?

[pumpkinpie]

I got funding for a laptop for little p - you could apply for equit

[smiley]

Thanks guys <'>

 

I applied to Family Fund last August! .

I've chased them up, and they are simply snowed under. Using a laptop was first mentioned then - hense why i applied.

Did you apply to Family Fund??

[KateBall]

My sons been using my old psion 7 in class for his work and is finding it really useful - its convenient and light and the battery lasts for a long time. You can still pick them up on ebay quite reasonably compared to the price of a laptop.

[Bard]

I don't know how old your son is, but we use the bbb.co.uk/schools dancemat typing skills for years 2-4 to support ICT skills, and it's free.

[baddad]

Hi Smiley -

 

I don't know if FF help with stuff like laptops, but they may help with money for something else that will free up THAT money for a laptop...

There used to be an organisation called C.A.P., but that project folded last year

[Noetic]

In the USA they seem to use AlphaSmart a lot for LD and Dyspraxic students, you can get them here too: http://www.alphasmart.eu/

[krystaltps]

Alphasmarts RULE!! I used them last year with a P. 1-3 composite class. They are excellent. They have a very little "screen" at the top, so the child is not distracted by anything other than what they are typing, also they are not faced with an enormous blank page to despair at the thought of filling.

They are reasonably cheap, can run on batteries or be re-charged, and extremely sturdy (I lost count of the number of times ours were dropped).

The best part, the reward for doing all that typing, is sending the text to a desk-top or laptop via infra-red... it just "magically appears" on the open-ready-waiting word document, ready for print out. Cue sighs of amazement from P1s using it for the first time.

However, I think you can link them directly to the printer, and by-pass the computer.

Sorry, I just had to have that little alphasmart outburst. Have P5 now and we have to use ordinary laptops... miss the alphasmarts

[julieann]

Hi Smiley,

I use Smart pad. It is a cheaper but no way inferior version of alphasmart. To save your work you only need to press one button (Esc) and it is automatically saved. Then you plug it into your computer and to quote Krystaltps

 

The best part, the reward for doing all that typing, is sending the text to a desk-top or laptop via infra-red... it just "magically appears" on the open-ready-waiting word document, ready for print out. Cue sighs of amazement from P1s using it for the first time.

 

Julieann

[julieann]

Hi Smiley,

 

If you type in Quickpad and Alphasmart you get a comparison table. I tried unsuccessfully to attach the page.

 

 

The Quickpad costs �112 with quite a few extras that you have to pay for as extras with alphasmart.

The Alphasmart costs �169.

 

Hope this is helpful Julieann

Edited May 2, 2007 by julieann

[KateBall]

Isn't the problem with the alphasmart though that it only shows a few lines of text and the child gets frustrated with not seeing all the page of typing? I saw this said someone else on here and when I mentioned it at school they also said a child had given up on it for this reason.

[LittleRae]

Hi Smiley

 

DS is using Type 2 Learn for typing lessons at school and we use Mavis Beacon at home. However, when he last saw his psychologist, he asked that if he was having such problems with handwriting, why did I think typing would be any easier? Now, he does type some of his work and yes, it is easier than handwriting, but looking towards secondary school and all those essays made me wonder.

 

We were recommended to get Dragon Naturally Speaking (speak to type) software. He's enjoying it and recently completed a project using it. It takes some getting used to, but seems to be very good.

[mumble_rocks]

I logged on and was going to recommend AlphaSmart rather then Laptop.

I used it from year 7-11 and also did my GCSES on it! The school hated the idea therefore meaning we well my parents had to buy it since then the school went a bought two! Not such a bad idea then was it! The fact that you cant see all the work can be a problem I will admit, although you can get abotu 5 I think when the font was the smallest you could get it. I used the Neo version.

[Kathryn]

Hi Smiley,

 

L has rarely written by hand for the last 3 years. She was using the school laptops when she was there (not sure what kind but they were extremely heavy) Nowadays she uses an alphasmart which is on loan from the college and is fairly light to lug around. So far she's mainly used it for communication when speech fails, but we're looking into getting a laptop for her now she's starting to ease back into doing academic work.

 

She types really rapidly with about 4 fingers and is self taught so I don't know any useful activities - sorry!

 

K x

[lynda4]

I'm amazed that nobody has said they've got one through school! My ds2 could have had a laptop through school as he has dyspraxia, as a lot of children with an ASD do. He also has hyper-mobile finger joints but could definitely have got one through school with just dyspraxia. I know of other children who've also got theirs through school. Both ds2 and dd have got a Statement, maybe that makes a difference? I think you could probably ask for it to be written into the Statement but nevertheless, both of them could have had a laptop without that happening. DS2 decided not to get one as he would have just fiddled with it and got hung up on all the gadgets etc rather than getting down to his work, so his support assistant scribed for him when there was a lot of writing to be done. He also had the scribe in exams.

 

Dd has just got one because her handwriting is very slow and untidy and her spelling is pretty bad too. She's 13, almost 14 so coming up to GCSE years and writing more and more in class. They used to give out laptops where necessary but now they've moved onto Alphasmart. These are much better, they're really light to carry and easy to use and they are really just word-processors so you can't get hung up on all the other things which a laptop can do. At home we have a computer and printer and she can load her work onto our home computer to continue working at home, or printer. She loves it! The thing about only two or three lines showing has been a bonus for her as she gets so carried away typing, she does far more than she realises, so doesn't give up as quickly as she did before, when she could see she'd done enough.

 

I think anyone thinking of getting one should try asking their school first, if they could supply one? I suppose like anything else, there will be schools who really want to be helpful and will jump at a chance tohelp a child in need and others who won't. Considering the cost though, and not knowing for sure if it will work for him/her, its worth asking first? It helps if you have a diagnosis which directly involves handwriting, like dyspraxia or dyslexia.

[smiley]

Hi all - thanks for your replies

 

The alphasmart sounds like a good idea for school - the only thing that i think would frustrate him, is not being able to see all of his text. He usually needs to read through what he's written as he's writing it IYSWIM.

For home, i think i'd go for a laptop - i've been having a look around and there are some around the �300 range that would be good enough for what he needs it for. I'd like him to be able to use it for other things - so i'm not sure the alphasmart would be the best idea for home.

 

(K - i'd love M to learn to communicate through the 'puter . He's going through a delayed echolia phase again at the moment. He will say something, and then i spend the next few hours wondering where he's heard it - and what he means by that....... .... for some reason, for him, writing is an easier form of communication. A couple of times over Easter hols i just couldn't work out what he wanted, he eventually got so frustrated with me he wrote it down - but was unable to actually say it... )

 

<'>

[smiley]

Hi Lynda

I'm lucky in that my sons' school will be providing him with a laptop/alphasmart to be used at school (not at home). But, i did have to fight to have that written into his statement - and the OT had to write a couple of letters to confirm it was needed. I haven't heard of another child near me getting a laptop/alphasmart without a fight

Edited May 2, 2007 by smiley

[lynda4]

We're lucky in that the school ds2 went to and dd is still at, is a very good school for ASDs. Its mainsteam but they have really taken to kids like ours and positively welcome them. They make great adjustments for them, I can't praise it highly enough, wish all schools would do the same. There are plenty of schools round here that don't do enough but we found this one eventually and its been great. The laptops aren't written into the Statement, they just give them out where needed, maybe only to Statemented children, I don't know, but its not written on the Statement. At post GCSE age, there's another very good place for them to go, where ds2 was also offered a laptop and which makes good adjustments and welcomes kids with ASDs. Unfortunately he had to go through a very rough time before that, in a place that wasn't good at all and now is having a hard time again at uni.

 

I don't know if its down to the LEA to decide on whether a school can supply laptops to children who need them, if so that would account for a whole area not having that facility. Or maybe each school chooses how to spend its SEN money?

[Noetic]

I can see the point with the Alphasmart screen being too small, I have the same problem with not seeing what I've written too.

[lisa]

For typing programs it depends how old your son is. We found 'Typing with Timon and Pumba' one of the best for primary, the games were fun and it taught a very good way to touch type using the correct fingers and encouraged you not to look at your hands. Each type you completed a 'Rafiki's Challenge' it uplocked a new game. My sons favourite was spitting grape pips at bugs, you had to type the correct letter quickly to hit the bugs. I'm not sure if it works on XP as it's quite an old game.

 

For secondary, my son's now 13, and he loves 'Typing of the Dead', that's if you can get hold of an old copy on ebay. You can't buy it anymore in the shops. It's just like the arcade game, House of the Dead where you have to shoot the zombies, but you have to type the words as quickly as you can to fire at the zombie before it gets you. Very, very cool typing game.

 

Lisa

[lynda4]

I looked up that typing game on Ebay, it sounds fantastic! They do have some, but they are all for the Dreamcast, is yours a Dreamcast game or do they do them for other consoles too?

[KateBall]

I don't know if its down to the LEA to decide on whether a school can supply laptops to children who need them, if so that would account for a whole area not having that facility. Or maybe each school chooses how to spend its SEN money?

 

My sons school had an alphasmart on loan from the lea. It might be worth you or the school checking to see if your lea has one or even laptops to loan out.

[Noetic]

I looked up that typing game on Ebay, it sounds fantastic! They do have some, but they are all for the Dreamcast, is yours a Dreamcast game or do they do them for other consoles too?

I think it was originally a PC game? They do have one for the PC too...

[lisa]

We've got it on PC.

 

If you live in London, CENMAC may be able to supply your son with an Alphasmart.

 

http://www.lgfl.net/lgfl/accounts/Virtual%...bout%20us/menu/

 

 

 

Lisa

[lynda4]

Oh thanks! I'll keep looking on Ebay then

[av16]

Hi, to help typing skills I was recommended to use some free touch typing programs, you can use them on the internet or download them. I access them by seaching using google. There are also some good free touch typing games that most children seem to enjoy- again accessed by google but I'm going to try and add a link.

http://www.sense-lang.org/typing/ and http://www.freetypinggame.net/play.asp

 

Hope these help.

AV